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Bloomberg: Western sanctions curb Turkey's trade with Russia

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Bloomberg: Western sanctions curb Turkey's trade with Russia
Dry bulk cargo vessels, including ships carrying grain, at the southern entrance to the Bosporus Strait leading to the Black Sea beyond pleasure boats docked in a harbor in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. Wheat prices plunged after Russia agreed to resume the deal allowing safe passage of Ukrainian crop exports, reversing a weekend announcement that sowed chaos through agricultural markets and sent prices soaring. Photographer: Nicole Tung/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Turkey's trade boom with Russia is faltering due to "rapidly expanding" Western sanctions lists, Bloomberg reported on April 5.

Following extensive sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, Turkey became one of the key lifelines for Moscow's international trade.

Turkish machinery exporters, who benefited from the surge in sales to Russia last year, may see their revenues drop by $1 billion in 2024 due to sanctions, Bloomberg said, citing Kutlu Karavelioglu, the chairperson of the Machinery Exporters' Association.

This represents one-third of last year's sales to Russia, Karavelioglu clarified for Bloomberg.

Data published by Turkey's Trade Ministry indicate that exports to Russia dropped by 33.7% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to a year earlier.

Other trade partners crucial for Russia's economy have also begun scaling back their business dealings in the wake of Western sanctions.

Buyers in India, the second-largest importer of Russian oil after China, have begun rejecting Russian shipments from sanctioned suppliers.

Several Chinese financial institutions started curbing their activities with and in Russia, also reportedly as a result of the pressure stemming from the sanctions.

Reuters: Russia facing delays in oil payments from China, Turkey and UAE
Banks in China, the UAE, and Turkey have boosted sanctions compliance leading to Russian oil firms facing months of delays in receiving payments, Reuters reported on March 27. In some cases, money transfers to Moscow have been rejected entirely, several sources familiar with the matter told the outl…
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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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"It is legitimate and lawful for China to conduct normal economic, trade and energy cooperation with all countries around the world, including Russia," China's Foreign Ministry said in response to question about Russian oil purchases posed by Bloomberg. "We will continue to adopt reasonable energy security measures in accordance with our national interests."

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